The time is starting to fly by.....

Well, just about half way done the course! Every day I'm in that first killer yoga class I feel myself getting stronger and stronger. You wouldnt beleive how flexible I'm getting. It's all in your head you know...here is the view from the window just above where I sit all day long:

Pretty freakin amazing.  I am learning so much here that is not yoga: I've met some really cool people and have found myself gravitating towards the ones that remind me of the greatest people in my life in Toronto.  It's made me think about my relationships and different blessings I get from each one.  Sometimes I cuddle with one girl, I stretch with another, read over coffee with another, I just enjoy what each person has to offer and I relish in each and every blessing. Everyone has such great stories, and when you are open to listen to others it's amazing what you find out.  The universe has no doubt blessed me with some challenges regarding my old patterns and vices, and I am passing the tests with flying colours. I am saying no now without feeling guilty.

I have already decided that I will have to come back to India one day to experience the amount of wonderful sights and places it has to offer, but this trip is really to scrape the shit off my soul and expose the real Julia. Therefore, I have decided to drop the hospital portion of the trip and do a 10 day retreat deeper in the himlayas called "Vipassana".  Many of you will balk at the prospect of silent meditation, for 10 hours a day, for 10days...with no phone, computer, books, yoga, nothing...just me and my body and my mind sitting there thinking about myself.  We eat light (they provide the food), and aren't aloud to socialize with each other. Sounds like it will be hard, but many of the girls here have done it and they say it changes your life. And it's 100 percent free to go. You just give what you think it was worth afterwards.

After I get done that, I'm going to take a car to delhi with the girls and spend 10 days hanging out waiting for Danielle Lemoine to show up and go do some fun stuff.  Maybe this will change, maybe it will happen. I think I'll just leave it up to the stars to decide.  I'm living in the now...taking things as they come and not trying to plan so hard for future happiness anymore.  I have happiness now...I dont need to earn it or wait for it.  That's the best part...as soon as you open up your heart to the idea that you deserve to be happy and receive gifts from the universe, they will start pouring in.

I recently sat and wrote something called the 100 Gratitudes, where you write down 100 things that you are grateful for in your life and why. As I struggled through the list I found that there are a ton of things I take for granted (namely loaded nachos with chili and a cold pint), a ton of people that have taught me valuable lessons (especially the bad relationships), and I am a better person for having been given the gift of so many lessons.  I am so lucky to be who I am, and I wouldnt trade it for the world.

I feel like I have come here to figure out that I love being just where I am, I just need to change me, not my surroundings. Sounds cliche, but more and more I can see that it isn't all about me, it's about balance and being healthy and making good choices.   Yoga is going to be a part of my life forever.

xoxoxoxoxo